"Bye!"

"See you tomorrow!"

The class rep waved one last time before we separated by the front of the school gates. I only returned her gesture by wiggling my head, as my arms were still occupied.

The rest of the study session, once the whole ordeal spawned by Judy's comment was sorted out, concluded in a resounding success. It took a while, the sun was pretty low on the sky already, but we managed to chew our way through all of the notes and I felt confident that once I reviewed them a few more times I should be able to catch up to the current curriculum to the point where I at least wouldn't have to worry about repeating a year.

Not only that, but once we finished, the class rep even pulled some strings (she was apparently also on the library committee, go figure) to let me borrow a pair of large plastic bags so that I could carry the notes home with relative ease. All things considered, things worked out fine.

Then I remembered the girl standing by my side and an involuntary sigh immediately escaped my lips. She looked at me in return, finally interrupting the mechanical waves she was giving to the class rep already out of sight.

"Forty-three."

"Pardon?"

"The number of sighs," she told me authoritatively. "Forty-three."

"No way. I do not sigh that much."

"The data doesn't lie." In response to her insistence, I promptly rolled my eyes and exhaled a shallow— "Forty-four."

I froze up for a second, and then only rolled my eyes before I began walking down the street.

"Let's agree on disagree. See you tomorrow." My voice was not irritated at all. Not one bit.

I walked down the low hill leading up to the school. Speaking of which, how come high schools were always on hilltops? Was there a practical purpose, or was it just a random convention? Or maybe it was a trope? Anyhow, I was just about to get immersed in my thoughts when I noticed a second lanky afternoon shadow stretching beside mine on the pavement.

I looked over my shoulder and, just as I expected, I found Judy walking a couple of steps behind me and staring at my back with her usual unperturbed expression.

"Aren't you going home?"

There was a long pause, so long that for a while I was afraid she couldn't hear me, but she finally answered, "I am."

"So? Why are you following me?"

Another long pause later, she uttered a slightly uncertain, "We live in the same general area?"

"How should I know? Wait, why was that a question in the first place?"

There was another round of silence, and this time it didn't seem like she was about to answer at all. I was just about to shoo her away when I realized that I was just handed an opportunity.

I never really paid much attention to placeholders before, considering I had enough trouble with the important 'characters' already, but now that I had one at my beck and call, I figured might as well use the chance to do some preliminary data collection. Not to mention, going home alone would've been boring anyway. With that in mind, I beckoned her closer, and after a few short seconds she caught up and fell in line beside me.

"Say, Judy?" She twitched and looked over at me with questioning yet at the same time conflicted eyes. I couldn't help but wonder what that was about. "What?"

"You just used my name for the first time," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes. So...?"

"I don't know whether I should record that under friendly interactions or flirting."

"Neither!" I protested loudly. "Stop recording for now! Also, this is a business interaction at most."

"Oh."

I wanted to yell 'Why are you looking at me with those disappointed eyes?!', but I swallowed my urge and forced myself to start the actual topic.

"So, Judy? I wanted to ask you something." She looked attentive enough, so I took that as her being okay with it. "Do you have parents?"

The question might have sounded silly at first, but I had a solid rationale behind it. As far as my limited interactions with them had indicated, placeholders were fulfilling a very specific role; the same kind of role an NPC would hold in a video game or a background extra in a TV show. They were there to provide the appearance of people where you would expect them and thus enhance the realism of the environment. After all, just how unnatural would our school look if only our small group of seemingly important people attended it?

However, since they were just extras going through their routines for the sake of appearances, it raised the question of whether they had lives on their own after their roles were fulfilled. Did they have homes to return to? Did they eat or sleep? Would they disappear once no one was looking to preserve system resources? So many questions, so few hours in a day.

Speaking of questions, Judy didn't seem to be about to answer mine. Instead, she slipped into the same kind of momentary daze as before. I waited for a bit longer, and she soon shuddered as life returned to her eyes.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Stating my reasons outright at this point might have contaminated the data, so I fell back to my handy helpers: half-truths!

"Because I don't have any, or at least I haven't met them yet. I was curious."

She acknowledged my word with a grunt, but then she remained silent, forcing me to prod her a little.

"So?" She tilted her head uncomprehendingly, so I clarified. "What are your parents like?"

"... Normal?"

"Was that a question or an answer?"

Another long, nail-biting pause ensued, and I was just about to shake her when she blinked at me.

"They are normal. My mother is... a housewife. My father is a salaryman."

"Yeah, that's fairly normal. Do you have any siblings?" She shook her head. "I see. Any other relatives?"

She shook her head once more.

"Are these questions for research?"

"Yup," I said, but honestly speaking I was also just really curious. "Next question: what do you usually do when you get home?"

This time I wasn't even bothered by the momentary lockup. I also noticed that they were getting shorter, a promising sign.

"Normal things."

I gave her a critical look and scoffed in disapproval.

"Come on, stop dodging."

"Do I have to answer?"

"Did you ask for permission when you were researching me?"

"You play dirty. I will have to add this to the observations."

"You can do that after you answered."

There was yet another silence, but this time she didn't lock up. In fact, she looked like she was thinking really, really hard.

"I read?"

"That was a question again," I warned her.

"I read," she stated this time. I pushed back the urge to chew her out and just gestured for her to continue.

"What do you read?"

"Books."

I gave her another critical glance, but she looked entirely serious.

"I am really tempted to hit you right now, you know?"

This time she was the one who gave me an odd look.

"Does that mean that you are violent? I should add that to my observations as well."

"No, it doesn't! Also, I said I was ‘tempted' to do that! How is that violent?"

"You are right. It was just a threat, so psychologically abusive."

I raised my hands high in surrender, which was harder than it sounded due to the two bags in them.

"Fine, fine! I wasn't serious! Now would you just tell me what kind of books you read? Pretty please?"

She hesitated for a moment, and at last she blurted out, "I read... historical books."

"You mean historical fiction? About famous people?" She nodded. "Anything else?"

"I sometimes listen to music."

"How about a PC? Do you have one?"

For a few seconds she just gazed at me intently, and it almost felt like she was trying to figure out what answer I would prefer.

"No, I don't."

"Really? Too bad."

"Then I do."

This time it was my turn to pause for a while, followed by a short sigh. So she really was trying to give me an answer she thought I'd like.

"Listen, Judy. I would really appreciate it if you were serious about this. Don't change your answers just to fit my preferences."

She looked as emotionless as ever, but when I looked her in the eye she did seem at least a little embarrassed. Or maybe I was just hoping she was? Either way, she gave me a firm nod and an equally determined "Okay."

"All right then. Is there anything else you do? Do you have any hobbies?"

After some further consideration, she ultimately shook her head.

"No. I go home from school, eat dinner, do my homework, and then read a book or use the computer until bedtime."

I could have pointed out that people usually say 'I do X on the computer' instead of 'I use the computer', but she looked so serious I had no heart to heckle her any further.

"Very average."

"Very."

Look at that! Finally something we both agree on! Progress!

"How about friends? Do you hang out with anyone?"

"I do."

"Really?"

She nodded and pointed at me. "I do that right now."

"Errr... We are not really hanging out per se, we are just going home together." Speaking of which, I was actually just a few corners away from my place, so I brought up the question, "Hey, do you really live around here?"

"... Yes." There was a pause! There definitely was a pause again! "I live..." She looked over the streets and pointed in a seemingly random direction. "... over there."

"So you coincidentally live in my neighborhood."

"It seems so."

I didn't have the energy to argue. If she said so then I'd let her have it. It was about this time we rounded the last corner leading to my street when I noticed a group of familiar figures. I reflexively extended an arm to the side to block Judy's path and we both stepped back and out of sight.

"Is there a problem?" she asked with upturned eyes.

"Wait here for a moment," I told her in lieu of an answer, put down the bags, and then silently crept forward. I peeked around the corner just to see if my eyes didn't deceive me the first time around, but it seemed like they didn't.

"Come on boss, he is not coming!" Cried a familiar nasal voice.

"Yea' boss, it's way late. Let's go ‘ome."

"Shut up!" The deep bass of the aforementioned boss exclaimed, his ridiculous hairdo swaying up and down like a half-finished suspension bridge in an earthquake. "He goes home this way every day and we are going to get him today even if it's the last thing we do... before curfew!"

I returned behind the corner with a groan and rubbed my face with one palm. Great, this was just what I needed.

"Friends of yours?" Judy appeared to be more inquisitive than worried by the three delinquents arguing a couple of meters from us.

"Acquaintances."

"Hm." She nodded sharply, and for some reason I really didn't like the light in her eyes, so I quickly added: "We ran into them a few days ago with Josh. They are a goldfish-poop gang."

"Say that again?!" a nasal voice called out to me, and from a lot closer than before.

"Yeah, what did you just call us?!"

I turned around with a weary sigh. Big pompadour and his little posse were standing by the corner and all three were glaring at us. I stepped forward, partially so that I was between them and Judy and partially so that I wouldn't need to shout for them to hear me.

"Good evening."

My casual greeting caught them off guard for a second, but then they only started glowering at me even harder.

"Did you think we forgot about what you did to us?" the big guy growled with a sound reminiscent of gravel being sandpapered with a jackhammer.

"Did ya think? Did ya?" the small one parroted while trying to look threatening.

"Sorry, but what exactly are we talking about? My past few days have been kinda busy, so could you be more specific?"

"Don't mess with us!" the tall one shrieked at me and I involuntarily flinched.

"You have loud friends," Judy complained behind me with two fingers lodged in her ears.

"They are not my friends," I told her again over my shoulder, but she only looked uncomprehendingly at me.

"What did you say? I can't hear you."

"Then unplug your ears."

She was about to say something when the big guy let out a rumbling laugh.

"Look what we have here! He also brought his girlfriend along!"

"What did he say?" Judy inquired with an elbow poking me in the side.

"Unplug. Your. Ears." I told her animatedly so that she could read my mouth. In the meantime, the short delinquent began cackling.

"Kihihihi... Pretty little thin', right Treebe'rd?"

"She sure is Bagg..."

"Whoa!" I exclaimed with a raised hand, interrupting him mid-word. "What did he just call you?"

Suddenly a lot less confident, the pompadour-fashionista set his jaw.

"Now I am called Treebeard. Do you have a problem with that, punk?!"

"Of course I do!" I replied, taking him off guard again. "That totally doesn't fit you! You don't even have a beard, for crying out loud!"

"But... I am big."

"So are trolls," I pointed out, and the guy practically flinched like I just slapped him across the face.

"But there are no named trolls in the books..." The tall one muttered.

"There a'e in the Hob—"

"No!" the leader of the trio bellowed with a red face. "I don't care about no books about midgets!"

"Little people," the tall member interjected with a raised finger, and the big guy immediately snapped at him.

"What!?"

"Little people. You shouldn't call them midgets. It's insensitive."

"Like I care!"

"Awww..." The small guy put on a sad face and the boss immediately backpedaled.

"I don't mean you, Baggins. You are okay." He paused to pat the short delinquent on the back and then looked up with a confused expression. "Wait, where was I?"

"Something about not caring about little people?" I supplied the answer, and he immediately and vehemently shook his head, which incidentally made his pompadour shake in new and altogether hilarious ways.

"No, before that!"

"Being a troll?"

"Right!" He nodded, sending his hairdo into a series of further sways. "I don't want to be no stinking troll!"

"What about you?" I aimed the question at the tall one and he shrunk back immediately. "Come on, don't be shy. What is your new nickname?"

"... It's Noldor." I must've looked really baffled, as he quickly added, "Noldor. You know, because they were high elves and... well... you know... being tall and all..." His words trailed into a whispered mumble and I could only hold my head in my palm.

"I'm disappointed, guys. I'm very disappointed." I looked each one of them in the eye before I continued. "You had this huge book series with a gigantic appendix, and you couldn't come up with anything?"

"We tried..." the boss tried to sheepishly object, an act which looked absolutely ridiculous with his looks.

"And yet here we are again. Shameful. Absolutely shameful."

The three of them hung their heads in unison and then, out of nowhere, the boss let out a blood-curdling scream.

"Uoooooooooh!!! I won't take this abuse anymore!" He inflated himself like a toad trying to scare off a predator, stood tall... and then immediately turned tail and began running away, followed by his cronies shortly after. He only stopped at the end of the street to turn around and add, "Don't think this is the last time you heard of us!"

And with that they disappeared behind the corner, leaving me and Judy all alone on the quiet street.

"What did your friend say?"

I looked to the side and found Judy standing there with her fingers still firmly lodged in her ears. I reached out with the accompaniment of an exasperated roll of the eyes and pulled her hands apart.

"They are not my friends."

"Oh." She looked down the street where the trio disappeared. "I wonder what they wanted."

"You would know if you didn't plug your ears."

"They were loud."

"True. But then again, in retrospect, you didn't lose much."

For the next few seconds, we both just absent-mindedly stared in the direction in which the three left. It was a strangely tranquil experience. But then again, the sun was getting low in the sky and I had a lot of things to do, so I decided that wasting time like that was not really an option.

"So," I turned to the girl at my side. "Which is your house?"

She blinked at me and looked down the street again. At last, she raised a hand and pointed at a house way down the street.

"There?"

"Why do you keep asking these things?" I sighed and pointed in the other direction. "I live in the fourth house on the left down that street."

"I see."

"I guess it's goodbye then," I told her as I turned around and headed for my bags on the ground. I wanted to do that thing where I walk away while waving back over my shoulder, but I was stopped dead in my tracks by Judy grabbing the back of my jacket and yanking me back.

"Ow-ow! Hey!"

She was looking just as expressionless as always, but the way she was still holding onto my bunched-up clothes still conveyed a sense of desperation.

"Take me home."

"Eh?"

"Take me home," she repeated. "It's what boys are supposed to do."

"... Were we on a date?"

"No, but there are suspicious people around. And by suspicious people, I mean your friends."

"I told you they are—" I stopped myself, took a deep breath, and then exhaled it hard. "You know what? Fine, I'll take you home."

‘It's just down the street, for crying out loud...' I grumbled under my breath as I unclenched her fist around my jacket and led her down said street.

"A friendly advice though," I said as I turned to her about halfway there. "In the future, don't just ask a guy to take you home out of the blue."

"Why?"

"Well, you see... Some guys might think that you mean they should take you to their home, if you know what I mean." She apparently didn't, so I spelled it out. "They might think you are soliciting them."

"Ah." She looked like she gasped with shock, but the act was ruined by her typical blank expression. "Are you one of these guys?"

I almost missed a step and fell flat on my face in surprise.

"No, of course not! What kind of question is that?!"

"It's fine then." We reached our destination just as she said that. It was a fairly plain-looking house of the same design as mine, except for an added balcony on the first floor. Judy turned to me in front of the fence gate and looked me in the eye. "I am only ever going to ask you."

It took me a moment to digest her words, but by the time I was ready to object she was already reaching for the doorknob of the entrance.

"Wait a minute! You mean you want to make this into a regular thing?"

She didn't say anything, instead she looked over her shoulder, gave me a small, mechanical wave, and then disappeared through the door with what I swore was a smile in her eyes. For the next couple of seconds I just stood there, frozen to the spot, before I regained my senses with a soft groan and began walking again, this time towards my own place.

"Why did I think asking her to be my assistant was a good idea again? What was I thinking?"